


An Old Lover

by junko



Series: Senbonzakura's Song [34]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Food, Jealousy, M/M, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-06
Updated: 2014-10-06
Packaged: 2018-02-20 03:51:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2413973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junko/pseuds/junko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Over breakfast, Byakuya lets slip that an old lover is in town for Byakuya's big birthday celebration.  Renji spends much of the rest of the day trying *not* to think about what Byakuya might be up to....</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Old Lover

The little disapproving face Byakuya made when he said grace over the food made Renji look down to see what Aio had brought them for lunch. 

There was certainly a lot of it, just like the captain had ordered. It did seem to be, however, more of a breakfast than a lunch. Similarly, the big bowl of okayu, rice porridge with a pickled plum on top, was simpler than the captain’s usual fare, as was the tofu miso, pickled cabbage, and a quarter slice of muskmelon. A small bowl contained a few boiled eggs.

Renji’d eaten most of the melon, three eggs, and half the okayu before he realized Byakuya hadn’t touched any of it. “Something the matter?”

Byakuya’s mouth opened, and then he closed it. With effort, he pulled his gaze away from the food to stare at the watercolor on the wall above the bookshelf. “I’m glad you’ve not decided to try to keep your bankai a secret.”

Huh? Renji didn’t think this was really what had been on the captain’s mind. Shoveling in a mouthful of cabbage, Renji said, “It’s too big to hide, really.” After a few thoughtful chews, it occurred to Renji to ask: “Is it something about the food that’s bugging you? You should at least have some of these pickles, they’re delicious.”

When Renji tried to put some on Byakuya plate, Byakuya pushed Renji’s hand away hard, like he’d been about to offer poison. “This is… unacceptable,” he said finally.

Renji, who had been sucking down the miso like it was water, stopped to look at the offending meal. Other than the fact that it was nearly gone, he couldn’t see anything wrong with it. “Uh, okay. How come?”

“These are obviously leftovers, from the staff’s breakfast.” The way Byakuya said ‘leftovers’ it sounded like the most awful thing in the world. Renji started to laugh, because Byakuya’d had him worried there for a second—but Byakuya continued, “Normally, this would be thrown out. It’s garbage.”

“With respect, you need your eyes checked, Taicho,” Renji said. Taking a fourth egg, he rolled it on his plate until the shell crackled and separated from the hard-boiled interior. Cleaning the clinging bits of shell off, he lifted it in a little salute before popping it into his mouth. “I’ve kind of lost my taste for garbage, but I remember that the large majority of it is actually full of what we used to call ‘fiber’—you know, stuff like cardboard and bedstraw and linen.”

“You can’t eat such things,” Byakuya insisted.

“Well, I did. Obviously, it’s possible, so maybe you mean ‘ought not. Which, I’d agree with, by the way,’” Renji smiled wanly. “Anyways, those were just the nice things you’d find in garbage. I’m not going to go into the rest, except to say that this—“ he spread his hands out to included the bounty at their table, “—ain’t garbage.”

“Very well. But it is still not suitable for—“

Byakuya was interrupted by a soft knock at the door and Aio’s soft voice, “Your lunch, my lord.”

Glancing curiously at the food in front of him, Byakuya said, “Enter.”

Almost the moment the door slid open Renji could smell the curry. He slurped up more miso to keep from saying something snarky, because, of course, the staff would never insult Byakuya like he thought they had. They’d be just as horrified to serve their master leftovers, as he’d be to receive them. As Aio put the tray in front of Byakuya, she bowed her head, “Miki apologizes for the lateness of your tray, my lord.”

Byakuya seemed to be struggling with something he wanted to say, but whatever it was, all that came out was: “Apology accepted.”

Aio began her bowing way out the door. Before she’d left, Byakuya turned his face away, but said, “Tell Miki I appreciate her taking care of the lieutenant’s needs first.”

Aio’s head rested on the floor for a moment, as if caught by surprise. Then she said, “Of course, my lord.”

The door slid shut and Renji wondered if he should say something to acknowledge this whole thing or—

“What do you suppose I should do with Daisuke?” Byakuya asked, as he stirred some rice into the curry’s sauce. “As it happens, I have a position of gardener’s assistant open.”

“Heh,” Renji snorted. Now that he knew they were all his, Renji snagged the last the eggs and pickles. “You do and all. I guess that’d work.” 

After a few bites of curry, Byakuya said, “Did you leave anyone behind who might still believe they have a claim on him? Should I be worried about his safety or reprisals?”

“With shinigami I usually aim to disable,” Renji admitted. “But, I wasn’t exactly thinking straight when I saw the state of him.”

 _Yes_ , hissed Zabimaru. _We were so close to the surface._

 _We would have broken free on our own soon enough_ , the baboon king added.

“Then perhaps the gardener isn’t the best option. He’s clearly not equipped to defend or protect anyone,” Byakuya said. “We will keep Daisuke sequestered until I can come up with a safe, defensible place for him.”

Remembering Shinobu’s secret, Renji said, “Don’t you Kuchiki have holdings outside the Seireitei? I mean your whole family is here. Someone must need a hired hand or something.”

“I’m surprised to hear you advocating sending anyone into the Rukongai,” Byakuya said.

“Oh, well, I guess I don’t figure your holdings are as bad as all that,” Renji said, trying to cover what he knew.

“Hmmm,” Byakuya said. “Yes, that’s certainly something to consider. If no one will take him, I have a friend from the country … ah, oh.” Byakuya glanced up and caught Renji’s eye in a very uncharacteristically shy way. A little pink bloomed on his cheek. His lashes trembled and he dropped his gaze again. “Ah, I should confess that, among the new arrivals today, is a former lover of mine.”

“Wha…? Ah, oh?” Renji knew that noble family had a reputation as being incestuous, but it had never occurred to Renji that one of the cousins might be an ex. Shit, if he was a Kuchiki, he was probably gorgeous. Or was it a she? Either way, Renji figured that must have been hotness overload. Damn it, now he was feeling all sorts of uncomfortable, kind of turned on and kind of jealous all at once.

“Yes,” Byakuya said. “He and I… our affair was long before Hisana, and he’s recently married, but I’ve agreed to a private dinner.”

“Private, like with the wife? Or like, private like, just the two of you?”

Byakuya’s silence said it all.

“Okay, well, I trust you,” Renji said, even as he was wondering if this former lover was into all the same stuff they were…. Only, if he was, it’d have to be before Byakuya learned about ‘safe words’ and ‘after care’ so maybe that was… easier, less fraught and complicated. 

“I should introduce you two,” Byakuya said, breaking through Renji’s thoughts. “He was, in fact, one of the people I considered for our threesome.”

“I… what?” How had they gotten to a threesome all of a sudden?

“Yes, I imagine Isoroku would be quite amenable,” Byakuya said. “And certainly less problematic than anyone from the Gotei.” Byakuya went back to his curry. “Perhaps I can broach the subject tonight, and, if you like him…”

“Is this what you want for your birthday?” Renji wondered, giving Byakuya a lascivious smile. “I mean, I still want to give you… That is, I’ve got some things in the works, but, well—“

“Let’s see. Perhaps,” he smiled in a way that made Renji pretty sure that it was exactly the sort of thing Byakuya might want.

Renji started imagining things, but had to stop. They needed to talk business for a while or he was going to go through the rest of his day with a raging hard-on. “Uh, yeah, so, about the duty roster….”

#

They managed to talk business for the rest of their lunch. At the end of it all, Renji made arrangements to meet up with Byakuya for lunch again tomorrow and wished him luck with his ex tonight. Renji considered inviting himself to stay over, but he didn’t want to end up showing up while they were still reminiscing about the good old days or something equally awkward. Besides showing up would seem very untrusting, so he just left Byakuya with, “If you need me before then, let me know.”

Renji’d managed to stay pretty focused while leading a practice session in the dojo, but now that he was in his office going through the paperwork, his mind wandered.

Renji’d had sex with multiple partners before. Ikkaku and Yumichika used to offer space for him every once and a while, and then there were the drunken orgies that happened every so often around the Eleventh. His very first sexual experience had actually been with more than one, because it started on a wicked cold night in Inuzuri—a people pile of mixed genders and ages that had gone on for a few nights while the storm raged around them. 

A pleasant, comforting memory, that was. A kind of awesome first time, in all honesty—there’d been so much unselfconscious exploration and enough variety that he’d learned a ton about how to please himself and others. 

Yet, for some reason, Renji had a lot of trepidation about this proposed threesome. 

Given his experience, he wasn’t worried about not knowing what might go where, but, well, this was another noble, wasn’t it? Would neither of them let Renji touch them? Did that mean he was going to end up tied up with someone in his ass and someone else in his mouth? Not that that would be such a bad thing, but well, half the time he and Byakuya managed to fuck-up negotiations like that. An extra person—especially one Byakuya might feel the need to impress—well, that could be extra trouble they didn’t need.

With a yawn, Renji got up to stretch his legs and go fetch another cup of tea from the break room. 

He’d been feeling pretty good about things between him and Byakuya lately. Byakuya changed at a glacier’s pace, but Renji noticed that Byakuya’s temper wasn’t nearly so quick as it once was, and, unless Renji’d misread the moment, it had almost seemed like Byakuya was embarrassed by his reaction to the food situation today. To actually feel chagrined over an issue that highlighted their class difference—that was nothing short of a miracle, really. Even if Byakuya still couldn’t quite express everything, out loud. Still, he’d actually sort of apologized to Aio, which, for Byakuya, was huge progress.

The break room was unusually quiet. There was only Akemi and Yuriko with their heads down over a game of ‘Go.’ He gave them a little wave of hello, but they were too absorbed in their game to notice him.

The thermos was empty, so Renji had to start a new kettle for tea. Someone had brought in a big tray of hanabiramochi, probably leftover from someone’s New Year’s tea ceremony. The smell of warm sweet bean paste was too much for him to resist, so Renji found a plate and helped himself to a couple. Leaning against the kitchenette counter, Renji ate his sweets while waiting for the water to boil. 

The clacking of the stones on the wooden playing table made a pleasant sound. 

On the corkboard, among the notices for things for sale and requests for roommate transfers, were the informal memorials. Fujimoto and Tako stared at him while he munched on the hanabiramochi. 

Of course there was a whole series of small brass plaques in the mess hall with the names of Division soldiers who’d fallen in the line of duty. Byakuya’s dad and most of his forebears were listed somewhere in massively long list. But, because it was frowned on to leave offerings on the wall—it was seen as impolite to single one name out of so many—people made makeshift posters to stick up here. Dried flowers, notes, charms, trinket gifts, and pictures had been tacked up around the faces of the recent dead. Renji’d left his own notes there: an apology to Fujimoto for his stupid brother, and a poem he’d found about reuniting souls for Tako. 

The kettle whistled and Renji poured the hot water into the communal teapot. It was a big, industrial thermos from the human world and could keep several cups warm for hours. As he poured out his own bowl, he asked the two Go players, “You guys want a refill?”

Silently, Akemi lifted her cup, just as Yuriko shook her head 'no.' Renji refreshed Akemi’s and then, returning it to her, stood over the board for a while trying to puzzle out who might be winning. Renji had no idea. Go was not a game he’d ever tried to figure out. Despite the strategy involved, it was never a popular game at the Eleventh, except for betting. Those times that Renji cast his bet on a player, he just did it on instinct or whomever he thought was generally smartest. Of these two, Renji wasn’t sure. Despite her fluffy, girlish appearance, Akemi could be surprisingly vicious in a fight, but Yuriko had a quiet determination that belied a lot of strength and thoughtfulness. 

It was probably pretty evenly matched, which was why they’d been at it so long.

With a good-bye, Renji took his tea and headed back to the office. Nanako was at her desk when he came back through the door. “Oh, hey,” he said seeing her. “Had I known, I’d’ve brought you one.”

“Oh, hey, Renji,” she smiled. “Good practice session today, you were really on or something. Plus, is it true? Were you off fighting at the Eleventh this morning?”

“I can’t exactly deny it. Gate guard said they could see Hihio Zabimaru,” Renji said. He went back to the pile of papers on his Western-style desk. At his hip, he could feel Zabimaru purring and preening happily. 

Nanako flipped one of her braids over her shoulder and came to perch her hip on a corner of his desk that was clear of clutter. “What was it about? Some old score you had to settle now that you have bankai? I should tell you there’s rumors you came back with a very pretty boy in tow.”

“I did,” Renji said, glancing up from his papers. “His name is Daisuke. He’s a former employee of Byakuya’s teahouse—you know what I mean?” It took her a second, but then he saw understanding dawn in Nanako’s eyes as she nodded. He continued, “Right, well, some of them louts over there had kidnapped him. I was actually supposed to be after my brother, but, well, Seichi—he wasn’t in the same kind of… situation.”

“Oh.” She paled. Too late, Renji remembered her reaction when he told her about the rapes that were reported in the Second district. Then, after a moment, her face hardened and she said, “I hope you killed whoever you were fighting.”

“Ikkaku? Not so much,” Renji said. “But, don’t you worry, those guys who had Daisuke?—I let Zabimaru have ‘em for breakfast.”

She gave him a wan smile, “Good.” 

He kind of wanted to ask her if she’d heard any more about what was going on with all that, but it seemed hella awkward to say ‘so, speaking of rape…’ So, instead, Renji resolved to go up to the Second Division and find out if anyone ever did anything about those reports. Maybe he’d head up at the end of his shift, since he was apparently off the hook for dinner with Byakuya tonight. Dinner… and everything else.

What the hell was he going to do with himself for a whole night? 

Renji supposed he could catch up on his sleep. Maybe he should track down Hisagi and see if they could strategize more about the birthday dance hall over a couple of beers or something. Tempting, but that was probably dangerous. Drunk Hisagi started looking mighty cute and he was totally one of those guys you could talk into giving you a blowjob if he was wasted enough. And Renji could just see how his twisted little mind would work: ‘well, Byakuya’s with his ex, so why can’t I have a little fun too…?’

Yeah, no. Bad idea.

So it was an early night for Renji. There was all that porn he’d bought in the Human World that wasn’t reading itself. Heck, he could pick-up some beer and have a party of one.

“Did you do something to your hair?” Nanako asked out of the blue. She’d resettled at her own desk and worked on the preliminary duty roster he’d left for her.

Renji thought about it for a second, and then shrugged. “I washed it.”

“Oh. That’s probably it.”

_She senses our return, _Zabimaru purred proudly.__

_I know_ , Renji smiled to himself. _I nearly told her the condom broke._

That comment garnered a deep grumbling laugh and a hissy snicker.

#

Renji hung around the Division for a while at shift change catching up with people he hadn’t talked to in ages. Nearly everyone asked him if he’d done something to his hair, so, on a lark, he ended up replying: “Yeah, I’m growing it out.”

Interestingly, the universal response was, “Good call” and “That’ll look great.” 

Of course there were a few ribbing teases, like, “Finally getting rid of the old pineapple, eh?” and “You can’t strut around like a cock without the cockscomb!” But, whatever, most people seemed to think he’d look hot, so why not?

Byakuya was sure to like it; he obviously dug the long hair look. 

As everyone started going their own way, Renji accepted an invitation for a dinner expedition since it took him in the direction of the Second, anyway. As the group of them walked together along the streets towards the food carts, he caught up on Divisional gossip. As usual there were romances that were hot and cold. A lot of people wondered about the new Vizard captains. Renji told what he could, but he had to admit he didn’t know the Vizards terribly well. 

Despite himself, as the sun set, Renji glanced back in the direction of the estate and wondered if Byakuya was meeting up with his old lover right this very moment. What did you suppose this guy looked like? It was hard not to imagine some carbon copy of Byakuya: imperious, cold as steel, fucking gorgeous…

Renji could never compete with someone like that.

He wondered why they broke-up. Probably, both being Kuchiki and noble and all that, they weren’t used to compromising. No doubt they just dug their heels in about something and that was that. But, then what if that meant they still had all that burning passion, and now the argument was decades away and forgotten? 

Renji shook his head. It was stupid to start thinking like this; he was jealous enough as it was. 

A small argument broke out in the group about whether or not they should head west for arguably the best Inari-zushi in the Seireitei, which were over in the Third Division’s neighborhood, or if they should just stick to their original plan to have ramen at one of the many noodle shops around the Second. One group really wanted to just skip both and try out the new “English tea” place over near the First. Renji couldn’t stand the thought of eating anything that reminded him of Ichimaru and tea sounded too experimental to him, so he opted to stay with the ramen eaters. 

Kinjo knew a good place and convinced everyone to try it by claiming, “The stock pot of tonkotsu, pork bone broth, has been bubbling since the First Kenpachi took the title. And the noodles are as thin and straight as a lover's hair.” Renji rolled his eyes, though, he thought: _if you’d added ‘as silky as,’ I’d be sold._

But, since the beer was also supposedly cheap, it sounded to Renji like the perfect thing for a winter’s night.

So in a few minutes, they were lined up under awning of the noodle shop, sitting on stools, watching the chef deftly add noodles and veggies to the boiling stock to serve the next customer. Shredded pork was apparently the ‘new thing’ imported from the Human World, but Renji stuck with the classic chashu pork with a soft boiled egg, scallions, cabbage, garlic and enoki mushrooms. 

“It’s rare to see you out on the town these days,” Kinjo said as they slurped their soup. “Everything copacetic at home with your lover boy?”

“My wha…?” Renji nearly choked to hear the captain described like that.

“Oh, I’m sorry, is there a better term I should use? Ball and chain? Better half? _Boss_?”

“Oi, none of that now,” Renji said sharply, looking over at the other shinigami hunched over her bowl. Uh… damn it, what was her name? Something with a 'u'… Ume? No, Umeko. Anyway, she was unseated and certainly didn’t need to hear that the whole sordid fraterniza…. Or, wait. Weren’t they going to start to tell people? Try it out? “Show some respect for the captain,” Renji said going back to his soup. “And he’s fine. He’s just got a lot of family and friends in town for his birthday.”

“You’re dating the captain?” Umeko asked. 

Her face was bright and curious, so Renji said, “Yeah.”

“Oh my god, he’s so hot!” she nearly squealed. “How lucky are you?”

Over Kinjo’s flabbergasted face, Renji smiled wolfishly and said, “I know, right?”

The chef shot them a ‘no talking, just eating’ glare. A line had started to form and everyone was expected to eat the ramen while it was fresh. Nine minutes was the standard, and clearly this guy meant them to keep it. Renji nodded an apology and started shoveling. Kinjo did the same, but kept flashing Renji ‘I can’t believe you just—‘ looks in between what were very obvious ‘fuck, that didn’t work how I expected it’ frowns.

 _Ha. Fucking, ha._ Renji thought as he polished off his noodles. 

Putting his bowl with the other dirty dishes, Renji waved goodbye and headed for the Second.

#

Rather than try to deal with Soi Fon, Renji asked at the gate if he could speak to whoever was in charge of investigating the rapes in the Second District that his squad had reported several months ago. It didn’t bode well how long it took them to figure out who that would be, but, eventually, Renji was given a name and told to wait. They’d send someone to see if she was available or if he needed to schedule an appointment and come back.

He didn’t like the idea of having to return some other time, but Renji supposed, if that was the case, this—he looked down at the scrap of paper the guard had handed him, ‘Fifth Seat Ran Koizumi’—would have more time to prepare a decent report. Still, at this point, he’d be happy to just have reassurance that there was an investigation happening at all.

He sat down on the stone steps and waited. The trees on the hill were bare of their leaves. Wind clacked through the branches ominously. The stars were starting to come out, twinkling through the clouds in the darkening sky. 

Were Byakuya and his lover having dessert, were they retiring to the library for sake? What had they talked about? Had Byakuya mentioned that he had someone new? 

Did Byakuya point to a part of the library and say, ‘Right here. Right here is where fucked him up against the wall in front of the servants.”

A flush heated Renji’s face and he stood up to shake off that thought. Just then, the gates of the Second opened to expel a tall, lanky woman. Her skin was as dark as Tōsen’s, but she had close-cropped hair, curls tight against her scalp. She walked with that kind of menacing determination all the ninjas did here and Renji had to resist the urge to run. He put a steadying hand on Zabimaru, however, just because.

She introduced herself and, before Renji could do the same, said, “Our investigation is progressing slowly. As you can imagine, the presence of shinigami only exacerbates the situation. However, with former Captain Aizen in custody, I expect the problem to resolve itself.”

 _Sure, all the problems in the Soul Society would dry up now that Aizen was behind bars...._

But, Renji didn’t say that. After all, there could very well be truth in it. Aizen did seem to be behind the rebellion in the Rukongai—or at least fanning the flames and funding it. 

“All right,” Renji said finally. “I mean, as long as that’s the case. I got the sense that what they didn’t like was my badge, because it had a six on it. So, you know, if you’re sure it ain’t any of my guys.”

“I believe it was just the uniform,” she corrected. “Regardless, the matter is in hand.”

Well, he couldn’t argue with that. “Cool. Thanks for your time.” Renji have her a half-wave and turned to head down the steps.

Her voice stopped him. “And how is your brother fitting in at the Eleventh?”

Renji turned to glance up at her. “I’m pretty sure you already know better than me.”

“Indeed.”

With that, Renji walked away, trying to shake the feeling of being watched all the way back to the Division.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to Josey (cestus) for her usual help. If you're hungry now after reading this... sorry (well, okay, I'm not THAT sorry.)


End file.
